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Storm Angels
The Storm Angels are a 26th Founding Chapter hailing from the prestigious genome of Primarch Sanguinius, by way of their progenitors the Wings of Salvaxes. Like their predecessors, they stand aloof from the rest of the scions of Sanguinius and even from the Chapter from which they were spawned. Ritually cannibalistic and especially savages in their wars, this Chapter has recently underwent the Rubicon Primaris in full force, willing to risk annihilation to better fight against the enemies of the Imperium without sacrificing the lineage they are highly proud of. History Founding Why the ill-reputed Wings of Salvaxes were chosen to sire a new Chapter over Chapters of far more ancient and vaunted lineages remains unknown, shrouded in the wisdom of the High Lords of Terra and over them the God-Emperor Himself. What is know, however, is that a cadre of those Battle-Brothers were chosen to lead a brand new Chapter, an immense honor which was obviously accepted earnestly by the aloof Astartes of Barbaris. Unlike some Chapters, which had a world immediately assigned to them, the newly Founded Chapter was to have to reach the 1,000 Marines before departing to seek their destiny. Once their newly crafted Battle-barge, Wrath of Sanguinius, reached the barren world of the Wings of Salvaxes, with all the gene-seeds, recruits and equipment necessary to man a whole Chapter, the still unnamed Chapter departed without a look back. For almost ten years, the wandering Astartes descended on worlds upon worlds as they moved from the Halo Stars to the distant Ghoul Stars, until they reached the tropical Ocean World of Ionnacaira, where they finally found recruits they deemed worthy of their gene-seed. The arrival on this distant world was made complicated by its climate and the distance from the nearest Forge-World. However, the erection of Storm's Cradle, their Fortress-Monastery was the pinnacle of this era and the start of the Chapter's true History. Early Years As befitting sons of Sanguinius, the first years of the Storm Angels were spent fighting on all front. The Ghoul Stars have always been a deadly and unforgiving quarter of space, where the light of the Astronomicon is so weak that any travel in its depths is particularly hazardous. And yet, the Angels brought the Emperor's fury on world after world, allowing themselves full-licence to prosecute their campaigns as they so wished, being so removed from the prying eyes of the Imperium. The recruits which had been granted to the Chapter at its inception had already been entirely transformed into Astartes when the as yet unnamed Storm Angels had reached Ionnacaira, and losses, both to war, the Red Thirst and the Black Rage were already mounting at that time. Because of its bellicose nature and love for close-quarter combat, the casualties were already numerous, with over two hundred Astartes missing. When the Adeptus Mechanicus traveled to the Oceanic planet, they felt that they were erecting a tomb for an already dying Chapter more than a Fortress-Monastery for a young and thriving one. However, the natives proved to be extremely compatible to the gene-seeds of the Chapter, and while some feared -or hoped- that it would only enhance their berserk tendencies, they were proven wrong. The Ionnacairan fury and proficiency for war doesn't equate with a love for it, quite the contrary, it is seen as a necessity, something ineluctable but which must not be seen as positive. Wrongs have to be corrected in war, but none should glorify it, for fear of the dark and twisted Gods of the Under Sea. As more and more recruits came in, the behavior of the Chapter shifted from unbridled fury to a more methodical carnage. The tactics of the Wings of Salvaxes, with their heavy use of mounted assault left place to the assault of infantry troops, chansword in bolt pistol in hand, in wave after wave of bloody handed warriors. The casualties started to drop as the Chapter focused on killing its enemies and surviving, to kill more even. Finally, when Koratao rose to the rank of Captain and then Chapter Master, merely seventy years after the 26th Founding, he was able to enact deep change into the nature of his Chapter. The Storm Angels before the Thirteenth Black Crusade Over the two centuries of Koratoa's rule, the Storm Angels garnered a reputation as ferocious and bloodthirsty killers, truly the Angels of Death of the Imperium, descending upon worlds to unleash the fury of the God-Emperor, without remorse nor mercy. Nonetheless, where their first decades had seen them more and more shunned for their sheer barbarity, bordering on madness, the Storm Angels had managed to find balance before the creation of the Great Rift. The Chapter didn't suffer from the Black Rage in high amount, rarely more than a dozen Brothers at any given time, strapped in specially crafted armors and equipped with the best weapons and jet-pack the Chapter had to offer, to ensure that those maddened killers could be unleashed quick enough to shatter their foes. Because of their tactics, which amounted mostly to a frontal assault by almost the whole Chapter, preceded by heavy fire from orbit, few enemies could pretend to hold their ground against those Astartes in the Ghoul Stars. Still, some complains were levied about the Storm Angels, especially talk of cannibalistic feasts before and after the battle, of Brothers stopping in their track to gorge on their fallen's foes and friends' flesh and blood, instead of pursuing their enemies. Excessive force was never a term of those complains, for all knew that so far from the light of the Astronomican, no such things exist. However, the reputation of the Angels was marred by such behavior and an Inquisitor may have been dispatched to their distant world, had not the whole Galaxy been sundered by the Cicatrix Maledictum. The Return of Roboute Guilliman and the Indomitus Crusade For the Storm Angels, the century which followed the apparition of the Great Rift was a second Long Night. Gone was the light of the Astronomican, no matter how fickle it already was in the Ghoul Stars they had vowed to protect for the Imperium. Countless threats arose in those darkness, Orks surging from their brutal Empires, brutes of never-seen before size and aggression, Necrons, especially insane ones, flaying their victims and wearing their skins, and even Tyranids Hive Fleets attacking from the North of the galactic borders. And that's discounting hundreds of less-known species attacking Mankind ceaselessly in those desolate portions of space. Even worse for the Angels, was the wildfire of secession which engulfed the few worlds belonging to the Imperium in this region. Governor after Governor declared Terra lost when the Astronomican died, and thus attempted to secure their system, and often neighboring ones, to carve out petty realms for themselves. In the end, all felt the wrath of the Storm Angels washing over their pathetic defenses like the mythical tempests of their homeworld, unwavering and all-devastating. Even as the Chapter's resources started to dwindle, they fought on, hoping and praying that their actions would be enough to preserve the Imperium. Finally, after almost a hundred years had come and gone, news of the Indomitus Crusade reached Ionnacaira and the Storm Angels decided to take a risk and divided their dwindling forces. 300 Marines left the Ghoul Stars and, either thanks to luck or the will of the Emperor, they reached the Indomitus Crusade and joined force with it, battling during the last years of this massive campaign, witnessing first hand the might and feats of the Primaris. When offered such warriors by the reborn Primarch Roboute Guilliman, the Storm Angels politely -as possible for them, that is- declined, explaining that they were proud of their lineage and didn't want to bring dishonor to their predecessor's gene-seeds. Guilliman then offered the knowledge to create Primaris from the existing Astartes, even if he frowned at the idea of risking ancient flaws to enter the design of this new brand of transhumans. Still, he foresaw the need for such warriors in the Ghoul Stars, and heard the pride the Storm Angels had in their voice when talking about their lineage and how it reached to Sanguinius to so many Chapters. When the Rubicon Primaris was brought to the Chapter, Koratao ordered that all but the most skilled warriors of the Chapter and the Scouts underwent it. Almost a half of the Angels died, but the 400 Marines who transitioned to Primaris more than compensated those losses. Notable Campaigns The Quest for a World (748-758.M41) Immediately after their Inception, the yet unnamed Storm Angels depart Barbaris, seeking a world to call their own. Those ten years saw the Chapter descending on plethora of foes, from secessionists to upstart aliens, following the traditions of the Astartes who sired them. Mounted assaults were used at every opportunity and without care about the lives lost, both among the Brothers and their allies. Many an Imperial Commander came to regret the presence of those young and untested Scions of the Blood, for they were particularly distant and bellicose, quick to judge and quicker to act on their newly formed opinion. During that time, they traveled ever Eastward, following the border of the Halo Stars, until they reached Ionnacaira, in the Ghoul Stars, where they decided that the stormy planet would do for their homeworld. The Bloodtide War (777-783 M.41) The Heart of Fire (835-836.M41) The Carrion Feast (889-891.M41) The Purge of Hokji Prime (997-999.M41) The Long Dark (001-099.M42) The Angel's Storm (100-115.M42) The Rubicon (115-125.M42) Chapter Homeworld Ionnacaira, the world upon which the Storm Angels have chosen to settle in 758.M41 is classified as a Feral Ocean World by the Adepta Administratum. 80% of its surface is comprised of water, the 20% remaining being the millions of islands, none larger than 1128 km² (436 sq miles). Most of those islands are comprised in the large tropical zone of this world, only a few archipelagos doting the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Because of this, the population of those two zones are extremely isolated and the Storm Angels have chosen to not make use of them as potential recruit, instead focusing on the tribes populating the millions of jungle islands of this world. Those populations appears to be descendants, or to have evolved to look like, of the indigenous populations of the ancient South Merica of Terra. In fact, the name of the planet itself, Ionnacaira, is purported to be from the long lost Island Aa'wa or Ara'ak, an almost dead language by the end of M2, which signifies "Island/World of Iguana". Any visitor would find the name well earned, since iguana-like reptiles can be found on every islands, even the coldest ones in the Northern and Southern oceans. However, the natives did not name their planet from those inoffensive creatures, instead using periphrases to not speak the name of the greatest predators of this planet, know by the Imperium as the Sea Abomination, and as the Iawanaria, the Serpent, by the natives. Those creatures, which can reach up to 25 meters long (82 feet) and are large enough to swallow a man whole, and their bodies are able to slither extremely fast on the ground, once they emerge from the sea. Most atrocious perhaps is the fact that thousands of small appendages allows it to climb over all obstacles the islands and natives can throw at it. Nothing but armed men fighting in unison and accepting than most of them will die can repel an hungry Sea Abomination. Scholars from the Imperium speculate that the beast could be a remnant of an aborted Tyranid infestation millennia ago, since it displays chitinous protection on its head and back, and those appendages not unlike vestigial limbs. But as monstrous as the Serpent is, the greatest danger in the tropical zone remains the battering storms which ravages the islands every year. Ionnacaira's rotation around its sun means that the tropical regions endure four local months of relative drought, with sparse raining, and sixteen of rainy season. During those long months, the natives come to fear the few days of blue sky, for during those, temperatures rose absurdly and dense black clouds quickly gather to birth storms able to engulf thousands of islands in its fury. The inhabitants are then forced to flee their coastal settlements to seek refuge inland, where the dense jungle can partially shelter them, at the cost of many lives as poisonous beasts and diseases ravages them. Once the dry season returns, the humans of Ionnacaira starts their ferocious wars, the ravaged islands either seen as price worth taking now that their population are depleted or as a starting ground for the lucky survivors to start a campaign of subjugation against those who didn't share their plights. Tribal confederations rise and fall during four months of blood, the male captives ceremonially consumed by the victorious tribes to absorb their strengths and appease gods of the oceanic world. It is because of all those dangers and wars that the Storm Angels settled on this world, and chose to uplift the savage natives to the ranks of Astartes, killing and dying for the Emperor and Sanguinius. Recruitment The Storm Angels recruitment method is as direct and brutal as the Astartes themselves. During the rainy season, the Chaplains are sent to investigate the tribes suffering under the worst storms, spying on them and stealing the children which display the greatest endurance and ability to survive in the deadly island jungles of Ionnacaira. During the dry season, it's the children showcasing the ferocious behavior in battle, those who kill and kill until they die on the battlefield which are spirited away to the Fortress-Monastery. All those recruits are gathered at the Storm Cradle, where they receive the opportunity to become a Astartes -and more recently Primaris. The potential initiates are then brought to the Chapel of the Lost, where they'll have to endure for a whole day and the following night without sitting or falling asleep, while atrocious cries echoes from below and over them. Many aspiring youth will fail during this trial, and they'll be quietly taken away to be turned into the human servants of the Chapter, who will be hypno-conditioned to be willing to give their flesh and blood to their Masters when their dark needs arise. Those young men who succeeded in this trial are then given a stone blade and separated in groups of two or three, depending of their total number. They then have to fight to the death, so as to insure that the strongest and deadliest recruits will be inducted into the Chapter. After this final trial, the recruits are brought to the Chamber of Sanguinius, where they are put into sarcophagus where the gene-seed of Sanguinius will be implanted into their bodies over several months and sometimes years, turning them into Primaris, since the Storm Angels have decided to slowly rebuild their forces with only this superior breed of transhumans. Fortress-Monastery The Storm Cradle is one of the mightiest bastion of the Imperium, a veritable fortress spanning thousands of kilometers of walls, tunnels, hidden traps and narrow passages were one Astartes can stop an army. This gigantic Fortress-Monastery was carved into and built over a whole island of Ionnacaira, one were storms are so frequent that no native ever managed to survive. Only the talents of the Storm Angel's pilots allow the Chapter to connect their fleet in geostationary orbit with their home. At the heart of this immense demesne rest the Chapel of the Lost, the most sacred and secretive part of the Chapter's home. It is here that potential initiates are brought to endure their first true trial. But, unbeknownst to them, the terribly cries they can hear there are those of the brothers too afflicted by the Red Thirst to be allowed to leave their cells, but kept as a last measure, should Ionnacaira ever be invaded, to be let loose on their foes. The Sanguinary priests tolls day and night to try and find a way to calm the craving of those Brothers, to no avail. Two levels over them is the Chamber of the Angel, where the ten members of the Sanguinary Guard stand in eternal vigil over the Chapter Master private quarters. Those legendary warriors, clad in gold and red Terminator Armors, equipped with jump-pack powerful enough to lift their hulking frames in the air, are ever ready to strike at anyone foolish enough to threaten their liege. In this gleaming chamber, where depictions of Sanguinius in his peaceful guise are watching over the pleaders, remaining all that the Great Angel wasn't only an Incarnation of War, but also a compassionate man. Another important element of the Chapter's Monastery is its Great Hall, a large chamber, situated deep below the surface of the island, one of its walls allows to see the depth of the Ocean at peaceful time, only to be closed off by several meters of adamantium, ceramite and plasbeton if any danger is signaled near the Ionnacaira System. This beautiful room, large enough to accommodate twice the number of Astartes a Chapter is allowed, is littered with great status of ancient heroes from the Blood Legion of old and new champions of the Storm Angels, who died heroically serving the Emperor and Sanguinius. Chapter Organization The Primaris Specialist Formations *'Sanguinary Guard' - Like their Progenitors and their fellow Chapters of the Blood, the most elite warriors within the Chapter make up the ranks of the Sanguinary Guard. Selected for their ardour and unwavering devotion, those individual warriors inducted into the elite ranks of this inner order are tasked to stand eternal vigil over the Chapter Master. On rare occasions, they are also assigned as guards for other commanders as a sign of the Chapter Master's favour Upon their induction, a chosen warrior gives up their former identity and assumes a new name - usually one of the Chapter's heroes of ages past - and forevermore bear the title of Seraph. By forsaking their former lives, they become subsumed of all sense of self, leaving them with a singular purpose in the performance of their assigned duties in their new role. The Sanguinary Guard are the Great Angel's rage made manifest, tasked with seeking out the deadliest foes on the battlefield, and unleashing their unfettered wrath in a hail of bolter fire and slashing blades. *'Sanguinary Priest' - Like all Successors of the Blood Angels, the Storm Angels posses Sanguinary Priests. Far from being simple Apothecary, they are tasked with a mystic and religious role. They both monitor the health of their Battle-Brothers and help them endure the mental strain that the Flaws add to their souls. The Sanguinary Priests of the Storm Angels, not unlike their predecessors among the Wings of Salvaxes, notably takes note of whom gene-seed was used to enhance an Aspirant into a full-fledged Astartes, so as to retrace its history, and particularly the number of warriors created with those genes who have succumbed to the Black Rage. Unlike their counterparts among the Blood Angels and other Successors Chapters, the Storm Angels' Sanguinary Priests do not posses some measure of Sanguinius in their vein. Instead, those precious few drops are conserved in a unique relic, the Red Chalice, guarded at the heart of Storm's Cradle, were novitiate of this august order are tasked with its protection for a year and a day when they are deemed worthy to join the Sanguinary Priests proper. *'Chaplain' - *'Death Company' - Those are the Cursed Ones, the Ravening, the Lost. Those are the Storm Angels afflicted by the Black Rage, the most terrifying of the Twin Flaws in Sanguinius's genetic legacy. Like their forefathers, the Storm Angels disdain those among them failing to this affliction, going as far as to screen the lineage of each set of gene-seed, to try and determine if some are more prone to production this madness than others, so they can be removed from the Chapter's pool, by being sent to Mars or even destroyed entirely. The dozen or so of Marines who are still afflicted are gathered into the Death Company and unleashed at the heart of the Angels' preys, their unfastened fury allowing them to break all their foes in a bloody carnage. Once the battle is over, those Astartes who survived are chained, and then unleashed again, and again, until they succumb to their wounds and finally earn peace. Order of Battle Headquarters Companies Chapter Culture Chapter battle doctrine Like all the Chapters hailing from the gene-seed of the Great Angel, the Storm Angels favor close combat over any other form of tactic. It doesn't mean however that they act like either their forefathers from the Wings of Salvaxes or the usual Scions of Sanguinius. While mounted assault allows for some lightning strike into enemy ranks, the Storm Angels favor a more unrelenting approach. Even harassed by such incredible warriors as the Astartes, most foes will be able to regroup and possibly mount a counter-attack if the assault falters. Jump-packs are also seen as great weapons, allowing to reach foes who believed themselves safe atop their walls, or too far away from the Angels to be reached by their weapons. But they make one predictable. All who knows of the Sons of Sanguinius expect them to make use of jump-packs in large numbers and prepare accordingly -at best they could but only a fool would allow such an opportunity to be ready for their coming. Therefore, the Storm Angels have chosen to craft a new way to do battle, one uniquely suited to their needs in the Ghoul Stars. Until the discovery of the Rubicon Primaris, the Angels favored massed assault, deploying Companies three by three, two deployed directly into the fray, ordered to advance at all cost, their soldiers carving a bloody path into the heart of the enemies' defenses, allowing the third to surge, either by using bikes or jump-packs, washing over already tired and disorganized by the presence of the savage Storm Angels into their midst, while a few squad using heavy weapon offered support fire to their Brothers. This tactic costed a lot of lives, but to those ferocious warriors, it was but a way to separate weaklings from the true killer of the Emperor. The transformation of almost all the Chapter's Battle Brothers into Primaris and the loss of half of them during this gambit forced the Astartes from Ionnacaira to change their modus operandi. Their assaults are now heralded by wave after wave of ferocious Intercessors, supported by Inceptors and Vanguard Suppressor, breaking the enemy's line, allowing the most ferocious members of the Chapter, the Death Company, the Sanguinary Guard and the remaining Astartes among the Storm Angels, equipped with their best sword-chains, power-fists and other close combat weapons, unleashing their fury with jet-bikes, jump-pack and Rhinos modified to bulldoze over the enemies to unleash the killers it protect right into the heart of the enemy's formations. Many of the Battle-Brothers, even the newly ascended Primaris dislike those changes, feeling that it is a cowardly way, that their Chapter deserve better. However, the current successes of the Storm Angels, with far lesser casualties in their rank, has proven itself and even its most vocal opponents have admitted that it allows their severely weakened forces to still fight for the Imperium. Deathwatch Service Only a handful of Storm Angels have been sent to serve in the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos. This aloofness, which seems to some incomprehensible considering the number of alien threats that they face in the Ghoul Stars. However, this refusal mostly stems from the fact that the twin Curses of the Sons of Sanguinius weigh heavily on the Chapter. If the Black Rage is largely kept in check in terms of number of afflicted Astartes, this madness can befall any, from Scout to Dreadnought without warnings. As for the Red Thirst, while the Storm Angels pretends that they have harnessed it as a formidable weapon, the truth is that they are always one step away from unbridled craving for blood, and that sending Brothers who could succumb to this affliction to the Deathwatch could be a death sentence for the Angels. Notable Storm Angels Chapter Appearance Chapter Livery The Storm Angels's armor are, as is almost always the case for the scions of Sanguinius, exquisitely crafted, with many decorations, made of emeralds or lapis lazulite. Angelic faces, great wings or intricate patterns laurel can be found on the dark red and grey ceramite they wear. On their left shoulder is displayed the Chapter's icon, two Angel wings encasing a broken mortuary mask of Sanguinius with two turquoise lightning bolts underneath. Those armors are often slightly damaged, but the ferocious brother of the Chapter takes pride in it, often repairing them in a way to commemorate those damages, adding flowery decorations on the spot of a impact, a long laurel on a slash, etc. The Death Company's livery is quite different. It follows mostly the same pattern as the normal livery of the Battle-Brothers, but with very different color. The turquoise is replaced by a pitch black paint, like their aquilas, while the deep red has been replaced by a sanguinary and vibrant red. Those armors are also far less decorated than the rest of their Brothers's, since the Storm Angels share the contempt that their Wings of Salvaxes predecessors displays against those among them who succumb to the Black Rage. Chapter Badge The Badge of the Storm Angels is rather straightforward, like most of the other Chapters : the mortuary mask of their dead Primarch split in two, the right part showing the gracious face of the Great Angels, while the left side is a grim skull with a burning red orbit; a blood red drop rests on the brow and an Iron Halo encases the head. Two grey and dark red angelic wings sprout from the head, and two turquoise lightning bolts are set underneath them, pointing to the ground. Chapter Fleet Chapter Relics * The Red Chalice - * The Dread Armor - * Bane of the Unnamed - * The Angel's Blade - * The Guise of Sanguinius - * Stormspear - Relations with the Imperium Distant and tense, the relations between the Storm Angels and the larger Imperium were always difficult prior to the Noctis Aeterna. Many an Imperial Governor complained against the Angel's heavy-handed approach to war and their sheer brutality, if not outright berserk behavior when prosecuting their campaign. However, their location deep into the Ghoul Stars and their readiness to answer any and all call for help meant that many also believed that the distasteful actions of the Storm Angels could be forgiven, except for the numerous reports of cannibalism and debasing rites with consumption of human fluids. The fracture of the Imperium in two and the creation of the Dark Imperium preserved the Storm Angels from any action taken against them, for each and every warrior of the Emperor had to be preserved and pointed at the innumerable foes. In this age of isolation, the Storm Angels fought valiantly, trying to carve out borders for a perfectly preserved reproduction of the wider Imperium. When news of the Indomitus Crusade reached them, the Angels did their best to reinforce it without compromising their positions, and when Commander Dante of the Blood Angels was made into the Regent of the Imperium Nihilus, the Storm Angels hesitated but decided to formally pledge loyalty to the Chapter Master of the First Sons of the Great Angel. In recent decades, as depleted as their forces are, the Primaris from Ionnacaira have done their best to supplement the forces of the Regent, even if their still chafe at the idea of formally being commanded by a foreigner, even the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels. This forced cooperation as however enhanced their standing with the other worlds surviving in the Imperium Nihilus and even their darker tendencies have been more accepted. Feasting on human flesh seems less atrocious when assaulted by aliens, cultists and daemons, after all. Specific Relations Feel free to add your own Allies Enemies Notable Quotes Feel free to add your own By the Storm Angels Feel free to add your own About the Storm Angels Gallery File:Storm_Angel_Terminator.jpg|A standard Terminator from the 1st Company of the Storm Angels File:Storm Angel Scout.jpg|A Scout initiated into the Storm Angels Chapter Category:Blood Angels Successors Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:26th Founding